Maybe I'm not understanding you guys' question, but are you asking whether, once you receive a callback offer, it's better to schedule it earlier rather than later?

The answer is almost certainly no. Big law firms are very good at planning recruitment numbers, and they will not be offering you a callback unless they are seriously interested in hiring you. You're not going to "lose your spot" simply because you interviewed last.

Some firms may do offers on a rolling basis, I really don't know. But even if they do, there's no need to worry. Again, they've planned it out and are interviewing the correct number of people based on their usual acceptance rates. You are "accounted for," so to speak, and you're not going to fall through the cracks.

Law School Confidential's take on this is completely opposite. It said that it's almost exactly like rolling admissions, since hiring committees will be meeting weekly or biweekly throughout the semester and making offers after each meeting. Will you automatically lose your spot if you interview late? Of course not. But if its like law school admissions, borderline candidates have a much better chance of getting an offer at the beginning of the semester when there are a lot more spots available.

Regardless of whether the committees meet every week or two, it's not comparable to law school admissions. The difference is there is no such thing as a "borderline" candidate at a callback. Everybody is very well qualified, and the firms are going to offer the people they like. There are no externalities at work like yield protection or numbers that affect rankings. The people who don't get offered from a callback are people who aren't going to get offered no matter when they interview.

While I agree with LonghornDub's remarks, I have to say that I agree with others about having a slight advantage by being considered for employment earlier in the recruiting season.

If there are 100 summer associate positions available, and you interview when 0 offers have been made, it is much easier from a mental/psychological perspective for the hiring committee to offer you a position than if you interview when 98 offers have already been made.

Firms offer callback interviews to candidates in which they are genuinely interested. However, as with all positions, there are more qualified candidates than available positions. Your qualifications will be considered with respect to other candidates.

Additionally, firms budget for how many summer associates and future first-year associates they expect to have. At some firms, the legal recruiters are given guidelines as to how many screening interviews and callback interviews to offer. While firms can obviously hire more summer associates than they initially intended, it is much easier to be hired for a budgeted position than for one outside the budget.